The Casper Glow Reviewed, plus, the Best Other SAD Lights

Waking up before the sun has made his entrance is hard. Fumbling to hit 'off' on your bleeting clock, trying to swing your legs from out of the covers whilst your brain goes in loops of 'it's still night'... dreadful.

Which is where SAD lights and sunrise alarm clocks come in. By coaxing you from your sleep to a gradual fake 'sunrise,' you're swerving the stress spike that arrives with being pulled, harshly, from your z's. Plus, you won't have the grog-inducing effects of being yanked directly from your sleep cycle at a deep stage – so a healthier way to begin your day.

Light therapy has been used for a while in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that affects around one in 15 people and in which the onset or resurgence of depression is related to the changing seasons. (Side note: online searches for 'SAD,' and 'seasonal affective disorder' are currently at their highest for five years, so this is on a lot of people's minds).

But its benefits have been extended out, into day-breaking lamps that can help you to life your best morning life, whether you're dealing with the disorder, or not.

WH got our hands on the fresh new clock on the block – the super sleek Glow, from mattress-makers Casper. Below is our review – as well as other best SAD lights for however much you want to spend.

Adam Kuylenstierna / EyeEmGetty Images

The best SAD lights and sunrise alarm clocks

The luxe: Casper, The Glow Light | review

What do I like about the Glow? The design is simple and chic – it feels like what an Apple-designed lamp would look like. As a neat freak, as soon as I saw it was cordless and worked on a portable charger, I was sold.

It’s remarkably simple. The team designed it to be as ‘intuitive’ as possible, so even the sleepiest of morning riser knows what to do to work it. I soon learn that to turn on, you just flip, and to dim the brightness, you simply twist.

Functionally, there are two large buttons on each side of the lamp, making it easy to pause the 45 minute wind down or wake up sequences.

In terms of the light quality itself: it's gentle enough to wake you up calmly, rather than giving you a Paul on the road to Damascus blinding moment. Whilst there is an associated app to control, it, you don't need to download this to use the Glow: just if you want to get more tech-y about it.

In terms of gripes, as someone who likes a lot of morning time – and a set wake up slot – the idea of having a wake up ‘period’ was daunting. I really didn’t want to be rushing through my morning, and equally didn’t want hours spare in the morning when I could have been catching precious zzzs. This is something that's true of all sunrise clocks, however, so not a reflection on this guy.

The light itself is not a strong enough light to replace a bedside lamp in my opinion, so you could end up with some extra clutter, if that's something that bothers you. It's not cheap so your personal quirks are worth taking into account, to make sure it's worth it, for you.

But overall? Well, it has improved my sleep hygiene. After a week of using the Glow, I did wake up feeling noticeably more calm, rested and relaxed in general. It’s amazing what emitting a foghorn blasting alarm from your sleep routine can do.

The basic | Lumie Bodyclock Starter 30 Wake Up to Daylight SAD Light

There are more expensive clocks in the Lumie range. Ones that wake you up with birdsong sounds or the radio. But, in terms of a relatively inexpensive clock that does the job? The OG model is great.

Like the Glow, you can set it to wind you down to sleep with a 'sunset' (so that you know when it's time to stop reading, or whatever) and it'll flood your bedroom with a slow influx of light than grows stronger and stronger.

Set up is simple – one niggle is that altering the time that you want to wake up at involves a lot of pressing and fiddling, to change. It's also not wireless, so does run across your bedside table.

The swish thing about this guy is that you can pick from four different brightness settings for your wake-up over a period of 30 minutes.

There's also a 'midnight light', which offers up a soft, orange-y glow, if you need to pop to the loo in the night, plus, a radio, if you'd rather get up to tunes. A little issue – the buttons are a bit fiddly and close together, so locating the 'off' one for the alarm isn't so easy. But, a minor point.

The eco | Medisana Sunrise Wake Up Light Alarm Clock

The eco option. This one is complete with long lasting and energy saving LED illumination, so less guilt about all that light. You can time a radio alarm to come on at the tail end of the 'sunrise,' or can choose another alarm sound.

It's pretty cheap – and that does come with a cost. Setting up the alarm system is irritatingly hard and non-intuitive, so accessing all of its functionalities may elude the less tech-minded.

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